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Horrific Bombing in Islamabad; Massive Bailout Debated; South Africa's President Asked To Resign

Aired September 20, 2008 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: Financial crisis and a $700 billion bailout, President Bush says the size of the solution fits the size of the problem.
And hotel terror attack, the huge blast in Pakistan, a downtown Islamabad target where many westerners stay.

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. $700 billion, according to draft documents, that's the potential cost of the financial bailout being considered by President Bush and Congress. The President calls it a big package to solve a big problem. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House. Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, obviously the price tag for this bailout is simply stunning. It is unlike anything that anyone here now in Washington has ever seen before. But President Bush this morning made the case that he believes it will work, and that it is in his opinion the only way to stop the problems on Wall Street from spilling over on to Main Street.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH (voice-over): Taking his first questions in over two months on the struggling economy, President Bush called himself a market guy. And said initially the idea of a massive federal rescue went against the grain.

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: My first instinct was to let the market work until I realized that while being briefed by the experts of how significant this problem became. And so I decided to act and act boldly.

KOCH: The plan would give the Treasury Department authority over the next two years to buy up to $700 billion in troubled mortgages from banks and other financial institutions. That, in hopes they'd then be more willing to make loans. Once the housing market rebounds, the government would then try to sell the bad loans it bought for a profit.

BUSH: This is a big package because it was a big problem. And, you know, I tell - I will tell our citizens and continue to remind them that the risk of doing nothing far outweighs the risk of the package. And that over time, we're going to get a lot of the money back.

KOCH: To cover the cost of the bailout, the plan raises the limit on the national debt to $11.3 trillion. It also requires the federal government to report to Congress within three months after it begins buying the bad mortgages and then every six months after that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOCH: But President Bush is pushing Congress to approve this plan quickly, but that could be a very tough task because some lawmakers may want to add measures while others want some answers about just what banks are going to do in exchange for this unprecedented bailout. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thanks so much.

It's on Capitol Hill where they're actually trying to find some common ground, that's where we find our Kate Bolduan as well. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Well, this proposal is a brief three pages but it would grant broad and unreviewable power to the Department of Treasury, and as one democratic aide put it to me today, right now, lawmakers and staff are trying to understand this proposal more clearly and get their hands around it and to that point this afternoon, staff members from leadership, both parties, both sides, as well as staff from the key committees, the House Financial Services committee, the House Budget Committee as well as the Senate Banking Committees they met with staff from the Treasury for a little over an hour this afternoon.

And the way the meeting was characterized was more as a question-and- answer session, not a negotiation. So clearly they're trying to get some more detail into this plan and really understand it more. But at that point, we are getting some initial reaction from lawmakers. This from senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. He released a statement saying that this proposal is and should be kept simple and clear. He goes on to say we must closely scrutinize the proposal to make sure it works and we must do so quickly. Simply put, now is not the time for partisan plans or pet projects.

Now, this from Democratic Senator Charles Schumer. He released a statement that said, this is a good foundation of the plan - this is a good foundation of a plan that can stabilize markets quickly. He also said it does not include any visible protection for taxpayers or homeowners. Now, that speaks to the concern that some lawmakers, democratic lawmakers specifically, they had these concerns even before they had seen this draft proposal, and that concern is that the plan focuses - the majority of the focus is on the struggling homeowner, main street, not just a bailout for Wall Street.

And that is going to be something that's going to be the focus as they continue to work through this plan and begin negotiations at some point and they're going to clearly work through the weekend. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.

So is this really the only way, the best way to stabilize the markets, just as you heard Kate saying Chuck Schumer has just said? Let's check in with Poppy Harlow at cnnmoney.com. Poppy. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, whether it's the best idea or not, that's going to be decided by Congress over the weekend and this week. Ultimately we'll see if the President does sign whatever legislation comes across his desk. But to tell you how big this is, well, $700 billion, that's sizeable, but our economy as a whole right now, it's just above $14 trillion.

And also, keep in mind, a government intervention like this is not unprecedented. What we saw in the late 1980s and early '90s was the government coming to the rescue during the savings and loan crisis. They then created something called the Resolution Trust Corps. Now, what's happening right now, you can't compare this plan in dollar figures to what happened then, because the form of the intervention would be fundamentally different. Unlike during the ethanol crisis, the Treasury is likely to run this program directly.

Now, the government, what would happen, they would likely buy these sour assets from the banks' balance sheets, and they would then hold on to them after buying them at below market rates until the market turns around, then sell them off. So what's key here is the government says, President Bush says they could possibly make a profit from this move. What's key, though, we've seen the government taking more and more action to shore up our market, just in the past month.

Take a look here at what has happened. Just a few weeks ago, the government's bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the tune of about $200 billion. Also, earlier this week, the government jumping in loaning AIG $85 billion to that insurance giant to make sure it didn't go under and now a proposed up to $700 billion purchase of troubled mortgage related assets from the banks' balance sheets. The idea here, Fredricka, if we can get these banks back on solid footing, they can make more loans available, make those loans more affordable, and ultimately fix our nation's housing crisis, which the experts say is at the crux of all of this. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well that offers some hope for the coming days but it certainly doesn't do any good for those 12 banks now that have closed this year alone.

HARLOW: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Poppy Harlow, thank you so much.

Well, tonight, a special "Your Money, Emergency Edition." Two hours beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN's money team Ali Velshi and Christine Romans digging into this week's financial turmoil. All the information you need to feel a little bit more secure. Plus 7:00 p.m., they'll be taking your phone calls live. To get the answers on this two-hour special "Your Money, Emergency Edition." It all starts tonight at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

All right. Some international news to give you. A deadly bomb blast rocking the heart of Pakistan's capital. An explosion so large that it shattered windows miles away. It happened right outside the Marriott Hotel. Joining us live from Islamabad, CNN's Reza Sayah. Reza. REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDETN: Fredricka, just awful, awful Saturday night here in the federal capital of Islamabad. A massive truck bomb explodes right in the front of one of the most popular destinations for foreigners and westerners, the Marriott Hotel. This explosion happened at 8:15 p.m. local time Saturday night in Islamabad. It is now 2:00 a.m. Sunday. That's six hours ago, that hotel is still on fire. And that hotel, officials say, will be destroyed. Half of it was swallowed up by an inferno. We're getting the latest details, the latest numbers and the death toll continues to go up. The latest death toll, according to police, stands at 40 people. Police also tell CNN that at least 175 people are injured. Local television reports are saying that more than 60 people have been killed.

Islamabad police now confirm what the hotel owner had earlier told everybody, that this was a truck bomb that tried to enter the Marriott Hotel through its gate but it didn't succeed. According to police, it came up to a steel gate and tried to talk its way into the hotel when the guard said no, that's when the explosion happened. The explosion so powerful, we felt it in the building we were in, just about three miles away. Our building literally shook and rumbled. We went to the scene, and simply a horrifying sight.

Bloody victims being dragged out of the carnage. Cars mangled and the hotel, again, being eaten up by an inferno. The explosion happened just hours after the newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the parliament for the first time. In that address, Zardari said he dreams of a Pakistan free of terror. Fredricka, tonight, Pakistan's militants gave Pakistan and its President a nightmare to deal with. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow, a direct response from that plea from that new president. So any idea specifically what group? I know you mentioned militants, but any idea what group is either claiming responsibility or suspected?

SAYAH: It's too early, Fredricka. And this really illustrates what makes Pakistan and especially the tribal region that borders Afghanistan so complicated, because there's such a mish mash of militants and extremists with different intentions and ambitions. It's really difficult to say who was responsible for this.

Naturally, as is often the case, two groups are pointed the finger, one is Al Qaeda. We spoke to an analyst that said this has the hallmarks of an Al Qaeda attack, says the explosion is very similar to the explosion that happened a few months ago in front of the Danish embassy, and we're also seeing people accuse the Pakistani Taliban led by Baitullah Mehsud.

WHITFIELD: OK. Reza Sayah, thank you so much, from Islamabad there.

All right. In the meantime, back in this country, Hurricane Ike recovery. It is slow going. How are FEMA and the states responding to all of this? A week after the storm, the people of Galveston find out when they will be able to go home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. Much of the country is now focused on the financial crisis and the presidential campaign, but let's not forget about Hurricane Ike and what it did to the Texas coast just one week ago, wiping out homes and resources. Barbara Starr shows us what's happening in Dickenson, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: At McAdams Junior High School in Dickenson, Texas, the line forms early.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take care. God bless.

STARR: Texans waiting for food and water.

CAPT. ANTHONY ZISSIMOS, TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD: Right now, we're distributing ice because we ran out of all of our other supplies yesterday.

STARR: Three neighbors, including one senior citizen, trying to get food. They have nothing.

JOE JONES, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Freezer full of meat and all that is gone. So we have to do something. I had to get on the bicycle and do something.

STARR: The people keep coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're averaging 20 cars every five minutes that we're loading supplies in, and we ran out of food probably in about 4 1/2 hours.

STARR: These men pedaled four miles on their bicycles to wait. Word was, the trucks of food were on the way. Erick Jones needs clean water, especially for a new baby.

ERICK JONES, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Water, and whatever else they have in those trucks, we're trying to get it.

STARR: Some trucks have just arrived in a convoy, and the troops here are hoping that when they open the back of the trucks, there will be fresh supplies of food to hand out to the people who need it so desperately here in this region. The men get the precious cargo the next challenge is to get it home.

PATRICK DAVIS, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: We're going to get it there. We're going to put it in the hand bars, however I can get it there. I got to take care of my family. It's the only thing I can do.

STARR: Finally a small victory against the hurricane. Barbara Starr, CNN, Dickenson, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that's the people of Galveston, Texas. They were allowed to return home, some of them but most allowed to return home next week. It's the first time that they will see their houses since fleeing Hurricane Ike. Officials are warning them to be mentally prepared however for whatever they may find.

Joining us live from Galveston, CNN's Ed Lavandera. There were a few folks who got a chance to sneak on and see some of their properties but now this information really does apply to the majority of the people who have been kept away from Galveston, right?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right and there had been a great deal of growing anger and frustration with people as they, some 45,000 evacuees were waiting to get back on the island, but now they're being told that starting Wednesday some of them will be able to come back to the island and begin assessing the damage.

But now the rebuilding process begins. And for some folks, rebuilding is going to take a lot longer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLOS ORTEGA: The amount of force that it takes to make this happen is pretty unbelievable.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Carlos Ortega's home used to be on the second row of houses on this Galveston Island beach. Hurricane Ike gave him an ocean front view.

ORTEGA: That road that was there tumbled on to what is now what used to be a bedroom and a garage.

LAVANDERA: As tens of thousands of residents along the Texas gulf coast return to see their destroyed homes, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson says as many as 500 homes might not be rebuilt on the water's edge because of a 50-year-old state law.

JAMES PATTERSON, TEXAS LAND COMMISSIONER: Under Texas law, if the beach naturally grows in front of your house, you gain title to that land. Under Texas law, if the beach erodes, and in some cases goes underneath your house or behind it, you lose title to that land. But we won't be able to make that final determination until the beach has had a chance to recover.

LAVANDERA: Ortega wants state officials to get out of the way and let people rebuilt as they see fit.

ORTEGA: It would be a huge uproar on this community if the state or the city decided these houses can't be rebuilt and folks can't come in here and clean up our messes. And there would be just a huge outcry of anger and frustration.

LAVANDERA: Hurricane Ike eroded away the old beach lines. And since no one knows where the new beach lines will eventually emerge, state officials say it will take at least a year to determine who will be allowed to rebuild permanently.

PATTERSON: If we made a determination now and said that your house is now on the public beach, a year later, after four seasons have lapsed and the beaches have recovered like it will do to some extent, we may have told someone that they've got a house or structure on public land when in fact a year from now it's not.

LAVANDERA: From Carlos Ortega's front porch, the beach is now about 100 feet closer than before Hurricane Ike. And he never wanted to be this close to the edge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And Fredricka, we're talking about a great distance here of beach front property that will be affected, not just here on Galveston island, but down to the town of Surfside, north of where we are, to a little town called Highland. So it's a great deal of area that will be covered, and a great deal of people who are waiting with anticipation to see what exactly they will be discovering.

And Carlos Ortega's neighborhood, that street, that row of homes that was in front of him at one point, there were 19 homes. Only two of them are left standing. And it looks like those people might be losing those homes even though they're left standing. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And you can almost bet that a lot of people, Ed, when they get a chance to see what is and what is no longer there, they're going to feel victimized again because they've gotten this close to finally getting a chance to see how their property's fared, only to find out that many of them did not do well at all.

LAVANDERA: Oh, we've heard a great deal of that. People who have been spending a lot of time over the last week trying to see internet pictures, satellite pictures, any kind of clue as to what their home might look like, but of course seeing it in a picture and seeing it in person for the first time is a completely different feeling.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Ed Lavandera, all right, thanks so much from Galveston, Texas.

Well, former Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore knows a lot about what to expect after a hurricane. You got very used to his voice and his face post-Hurricane Katrina. Well he joins us now to give us a sense as to exactly what people might be going through. And so, General, I know you have said that folks can only stand but so long away from their homes in temporary shelters for a very short amount of time, one to two weeks.

But now these folks are finding out it may be much longer. Give me an idea of how you expect a lot of survivors to take this kind of news.

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's going to come very hard. It's going to be - you go through phases of dealing with a hurricane. They're already did a great work on evacuating the special needs patients in Texas, a combined effort of the federal government and the state. Then the hurricane hit, people went through a lot of shock and awe just by the destruction, the sound of the wind, and they went through a survival mode, followed by a great search and rescue mission ran by the Texas National Guard, the Coast Guard, and the local first responders. But what we are seeing now is the sustainment operation, just to keep people alive, Fredricka. People are very susceptible now to tetanitis, as you saw in that piece Barbara Starr recently ran, the distribution of food and water, all those things are very hard.

WHITFIELD: Which is why you say that a lot of adults need to get tetanus shots. If you're down there, whether you're heading back to your property or being in other kinds of temporary quarters, you need to have a tetanus shot.

HONORE: Tetanus is a very dangerous illness, caused by bacteria called Clostridium tetanii. And what it will do is, it will get in your bloodstream and the infection period is five to ten days or up to 50 days. You need to have that tetanus booster shot every 10 years. And if in doubt, get a tetanus shot. But don't wait too late. And it's common name for it when I grew up in Louisiana was lock jaw. And what it does is, the symptoms, the tightening of the muscles in the neck. So as people are looking at this, they really need to look out for one another if they have symptoms of tetanitis.

WHITFIELD: Well some thing I know you're big on preparedness, you're talking about the tetanus shot, that's a level of preparedness but even before a storm hits, what's your assessment about Texas's preparedness just prior to this storm?

HONORE: You know what, Fredricka? I think the government was well prepared. I don't think we had done enough nationally and locally at the state to get the people mentally prepared. As well as they had a great plan to do evacuations, but I think people started to do their own assessment, well we just got a category 2 coming, it missed key west, we can hang out here, some of these people - the poorest people - and this is one of the poorest parts of Texas, had just evacuated for Hurricane Gustav, and they were economically strapped.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HONORE: And a lot of people said, we will take the risk and stay here. I think in the future that really need to be worked harder to get people -

WHITFIELD: Yes, a lot of folks simply didn't have the money for gas to get out of town.

HONORE: If you're near the storm, you must leave.

WHITFIELD: All right. Retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore, we appreciate it and we appreciate your insight, as always. Thanks so much.

All right. This tragedy to report to you, earlier today out of South Carolina, four people killed, two celebrities critically injured as a result of this deadly crash. Much more, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. More now on that $700 billion government bailout plan, benefiting mostly financial institutions still crippled by the mortgage mess. But what about for you and for me? Many of us very much crippled by our own mortgage mess. "Money Magazine's" senior writer George Mannes is with us now. And so, George, I'm hearing from so many corners, don't panic. Yes, you may see your stocks or your 401(k) dwindling as a result of this financial mess, but stay where you are, don't panic. That sure is a hard sell.

GEORGE MANNES, SENIOR WRITE, "MONEY MAGAZINE": Yes, it is, because at a time like this, it is all you can think about. That number. That maybe used to be $100,000 in your 401(k) and is now $50,000. But the only thing - the first thing you should really do right now is just think about the bigger picture. Put it in perspective. Ask yourself the question, is this really affecting my day to day life right now? Is this affecting my relations with my loved ones? And think about it. You know, that $50,000 might be an unimaginable fortune to hundreds of millions of other people in the world here. So that - that's how you should start calming yourself down.

WHITFIELD: And that pertains to the person who is looking ahead, but what about the person now feeling the pinch, who, say, they haven't been able to keep up with their mortgage payments or maybe their house is about to go on the auction block or facing foreclosure, et cetera, and then you hear about this huge bailout plan that mostly is going to help resuscitate financial institutions. This plan right now doesn't seem to include anything for the individual consumer who is in great debt as a result of the mortgage mess. Do you think that person needs to have any hope that perhaps in the writing or recrafting of this plan that there might be some hope for them?

MANNES: I think there's a lost noise coming out of Washington, D.C. that I'm not a political correspondent, but I think that's definitely going to be coming up. I think a bunch of congressmen are sort of looking at it right now, and say, OK, this sort of stabilizes things. But what's in it for the little guy? I think the thing to remember also is that that $700 billion, that's now money that you and I as taxpayers are going to have - you know, may have to be really dealing with over the next few years. Think about it. This year, the budget deficit is around $400 billion. And it took a year to get there. We're almost doubling, you know, we're coming up with a number double that over the weekend.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So you used word "stabilize" which I've heard a lot of people use, stabilize the economy or at least the financial institutions. So this plan in place is to hopefully avert a catastrophe, at least, that's what we heard from Henry Paulson. But as you talk about $700 billion, as you underscored, you know, doubling, you know, of government debt in such a short amount of time, isn't this a catastrophe?

MANNES: It is a catastrophe and actually we're not quite doubling the government debt. I just used that national debt as a kind of a - excuse me, not - the annual budget deficit as a yardstick there. But it's a big financial thing that we are taking on. And I think one thing to think about is, OK, Wall Street got the rewards from selling all these financial products.

Now the American people are taking on the risks. How can we prevent this from happening again in the future? It would be my hope that Congress really looks at this situation and says, how do we prevent this from happening again?

WHITFIELD: And then hindsight is always 20/20 but do you think something like this should have happened sooner, especially before maybe 12 banks would fail this year?

MANNES: I, you know - those are decisions that are left to people who know more about the issue than I do. But it's - it's something to think about. I think definitely for the future. What happened here is we had a few institutions who became too big to fail. So I think that what we have to do is figure out how we can manage that risk going into the future. What regulations do we put in place so that an institution doesn't get so big that if it blows up it splatters all over the economy like this.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Senior Writer of "Money" magazine, George Mannes, thanks so much for breaking it down. Appreciate it.

MANNES: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about weather. Last weekend it was Hurricane Ike that we spent a lot of time on, hard to believe it's been a week now. Jackie Jeras is in the Weather Center.

Right now, it appears at least immediately, the weather front in terms of the Atlantic hurricane season seems to be fairly quiet. I know there's something way out there but we're not going to talk about that just yet.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We'll get there.

WHITFIELD: Right now it's kind of quiet.

JERAS: Overall it's all good, Fredricka. For the most part, this is a great weekend for a whole lot of people and you certainly can't complain about that.

(WEATHER FORECAST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Escaping the stress of the day, many do it by heading to the spa, right? Guess what. If you're planning on having a pedicure while you're there, you may leave with more to worry about than when you actually walk through the door. Judy Fortin explains why. And a warning, the explanation is not pretty.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Danger looms, seemingly everywhere these days. Now it turns out even the benign act of getting those toes polished could be fraught with peril.

DR. DINA TSENTSERENSKEY, PODIATRIST: We've definitely seen patients that have had problems as a result of getting a pedicure. I guess the most common is fungal nails.

FORTUNE: Cuts and scrapes are also common during a pedicure, which doctors say could lead to some nasty infections. So anybody thinking about a pedicure needs to be forearmed with all the necessary foot facts.

TSENTSERENSKEY: Make sure that bathtubs are being cleaned properly; to make sure that they're using enough time in between so disinfectant has time to work. And that instruments are getting sterilized properly. That they're not just being pulled out of an organizer or something like that, that they're using a sterilizer or an autoclave to properly sanitize the instruments.

FORTIN: About 10 minutes between clients is what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends. Along with use of an EPA registered hospital disinfectant. And then, there are some other guidelines you need to follow to ensure a positive pedicure experience.

TSENTSERENSKEY: Basically, don't shave before you go to get a pedicure. Wait a few days. No abrasions, no cuts on the legs or the feet when you're going to get a pedicure. Avoid getting laser hair removal a day or two before, because it can leave small cuts in the leg or the foot p if you're -- depending on where you're getting it done. No mosquito bites, no bug bites, no abrasions. Definitely wait if you think or you may have something like that.

FORTIN: All of this to make sure that when you leave the salon the only thing that you're taking with you is the polish on your toes. Judy Fortin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As the country's leader, he is credited with helping to boost international commerce in South Africa. Now, Thabo Mbeki is agreeing to resign as president. CNN's David McKenzie is live for us in Johannesburg.

So, David, why is he being forced to step down?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, it was a move that was widely anticipated in the last few days here in South Africa, but still when the leadership of ANC ruling party came up and made the announcement, it shocked the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE (voice over): The announcement signaled the end of the Thabo Mbeki era, and the dying days of a presidency in South Africa .

GWEDE MANTASHE, ANC SECRETARY-GENERAL: After a long and difficult discussion, the ANC decided to recall the president of the republic, before his term of office expires. And our decision has been communicated to him. MCKENZIE: The leadership of the Africa National Congress turning on the country's president, who has been a member of this party since he was just 14. The ANC placing a veneer of unity on the decision.

MANTASHE: He welcome the news and agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities.

MCKENZIE: For Nelson Mandela's successor, it is the ultimate humiliation. He was due to leave next year when his two terms as press are up, now he's being shuffled out.

The decision has sent shock waves through South Africa , where speculation has been rife for days that Mbeki would be thrown out. His office saying, he has obliged and will step down.

The move marks the culmination of a dramatic rise to prominence of Mbeki rival, Jacob Zuma. Earlier this month, a high court judge threw out the fraud/corruption and racketeering charges against the ANC president and implied that there was political interference in the trial, reaching all the way to Mbeki's office. It marked the beginning of the end of Mbeki. The ANC leadership moved to reassure the South African public that the decision is in the best interests of the country.

MANTASHE: And to the citizens of South Africa , we're making the commitment that we share their desire for stability and for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa , and we believe that our decision is in the interest of making that secure reality.

MCKENZIE: Still, not much to cheer about in the country with Africa 's biggest economy. South Africa sits on a political knife edge, the stiffest test yet for this young democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE: Well, Fredricka, Thabo Mbeki is saying he will meet with the cabinet tomorrow evening here in South Africa , and then address the nation. It will be only then whether we will know whether Thabo Mbeki will, in fact, resign like he's suggesting or fight these calls from his own party - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, David, any way of predicting kind of the economic ripple effect? There's a lot of U.S. business being dealt there in South Africa, as well as other foreign entities.

MCKENZIE: As you said, Thabo Mbeki has been credited with bringing the economy in South Africa to new highs. But in fact, Trevor Manuel, the minister of finance, has said today that he would not step down if President Thabo Mbeki resigns. So, the party is hoping there will be a smooth transition if it comes to that, to a new government, to try and allay fears of foreign investors - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: David McKenzie, thanks so much from Johannesburg this evening.

All right, in this country, defying death. Take a look at this video. This boater did indeed do just that, defy death. A mind boggling crash, the amazing pictures. More of them, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Two celebrity entertainers are listed in critical but stable condition this afternoon. They are in a charter jet crash, which killed four people. Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and club disk jockey DJ AM had just performed at a concert in Columbia, South Carolina. Their Lear jet crashed as it was taking off from the Columbia airport, overnight, with six people on board. Barker and DJ AM were the only survivors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB SPOKESWOMAN: They were taking off, leaving from Columbia, going to Van Nuys, California. They overran the end of runway 11. They impacted the antenna array and a number of lights at the end of the runway. They went through the perimeter fence and across the roadway here.

There was a significant post-crash fire. There were four fatalities. The captain, the co-pilot and two passengers, and there were two survivors. And those two survivors, according to the recent information that we've received, remain hospitalized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, DJ AM's offstage name is Adam Goldstein, both he and Barker suffered extensive burns. They were the survivors she spoke of.

All right, the razor close presidential election; well, it's a battle for every single vote, but in many states some would-be voters won't be able to cast a ballot. Why? Because they're homeless and many states require a mailing address to register to vote. Some parts of the country are solving that problem by allowing homeless people to use a shelter address. We followed some volunteers as they gear up for homeless voter registration week in the nation's capital.

(BEGIN VIDETAPE)

TULIN OZDEGER, LAW CTR. ON HOMELESS & POVERTY: They have difficulty maintaining identification documents because they're moving around a lot.

I'm here today to talk to Georgetown law students about registering homeless people to vote.

Homeless people do have the right to vote. They can't be denied the right to vote, even though they don't live in a traditional dwelling like an apartment or a house. Sometimes shelters accept mail, sometimes they don't. If somebody is living outside, like in a park, every night, that could be their home address.

LUIS RODRIGUEZ, GEORGETOWN LAW STUDENT: It actually has a map at the bottom where you can draw where someone alleges they don't have a house.

MICHAEL STOOPS, NAT'L. COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS: And 44 percent of the nation's homeless are living in parks like this.

RODRIGUEZ: We're actually just going around the park to see if anyone wants to register to vote.

STOOPS: Every election cycle we do nonpartisan voter registration. We want to make sure that everybody who wants to register is registered.

RODRIGUEZ: We could tell you your polling place if you want to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So they have a voice in shaping the policies of our community and country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it's the same, you can just write same.

RODRIGUEZ: Policymakers need to take account these people when they make decisions.

STOOPS: They have issues they're concerned about.

RODRIGUEZ: Even if you don't have a driver's license, can you still register to vote.

STOOPS: They think they can't vote because the word has not gotten out and that's why it's groups like ourselves and law school students working with us, trying to let face to face, Mr. Homeless guy, can you register to vote.

RODRIGUEZ: So hopefully we'll register a lot of people.

Nice to meet you. See ya.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All of this in time for election day, just six weeks or so away.

Meantime, what, about 10 minutes from now, Don Lemon, more of the NEWSROOM.

DON LEMON, CNNANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Yes, 45 days, as a matter of fact.

WHITFIELD: Gosh, isn't that something?

LEMON: We'll continue with our truth squad with that. Also, want to tell you real quickly, we are going to be following the story out of Pakistan, that blast, Fredricka. Because that hotel could collapse at any moment, so we want to make sure we keep an eye on that.

But also the very interesting story that you guys have been talking about today, that accident from the hydroplaned driver, 180 miles an hour. This was a practice run, completely destroyed his boat, and guess what, we'll talk to him live in the 5 o'clock hour to see how he's doing. WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

LEMON: I can't believe that he can even join us by telephone.

WHITFIELD: I know. Lucky to be alive, very minor injuries. I know he's going to tell you more about it, at least that's what we have been reporting earlier today.

LEMON: We hear it's minor injuries.

WHITFIELD: Clearly, he's all right, he's going to be by the phone talking to you.

LEMON: Mark Workentine, is his name.

WHITFIELD: Workentine.

LEMON: So, we'll be speaking to him about that horrific accident. Just unbelievable pictures.

WHITFIELD: Workentine, working overtime in that hydroplane.

LEMON: That is indeed the story behind the pictures, yes.

WHITFIELD: I know.

LEMON: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. All right.

Well, no gas? Can you imagine driving up to the gas station in your town and they're saying we don't have any. Well, apparently it has happened in Nashville.

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WHITFIELD: Out of gas. Well, you may have seen the rumor by now. It's apparently the big buzz around the Internet, gas stations in Nashville running dry? Well, Nicole Lapin has been looking into all of this.

So, is it true?

NICOLE LAPIN, CNNMONEY.COM: You know, Fred, when we started looking into this early this morning, it kind of sounded like something out of a sci-fi novel. Kind of apocalyptic, or maybe just the thing that gets you to the B52s fun flicks (ph). Whatever it is, the thing about rumors is that sometimes they become true.

Case in point, the City of Nashville was out of gas. So people ran out to stock up, and not only did they top off their own cars but they filled up their spare cars, they filled up their boats, they filled up their RVs. They hoarded this gas in cans, in containers, there was this mad rush. And because of that mad rush there was really no gas left.

AAA now says that 85 percent of Nashville gas stations were without yesterday. And this is what the signs look like.

You can call it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever you call it, a lot of folks were stuck, like Justin Shriner (ph), who sent us this I- Report video from Nashville. He says some gas station lines were as long as a mile long.

So here's the question. Are people ling up because there was actually a shortage? Well, no. I phoned the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, TEMA, and this is the main pipeline, the Colonial Pipeline that services Tennessee. He says shipments are going in just fine. The problem is, that people demanded gas on Friday for the amount that they usually demand for the entire weekend.

I will say this, the average price for gas in Nashville is a little higher than the national average. It's $4.01 in Nashville. It's $3.78 nationwide.

This is a good site to know, fuelgaugereport.com so you can really check out the general amount you should be paying, just in case you're scared of gouging.

Also this site, gasprices.mapquest.com, I like this one because it shows you the locations of the gas stations right around your zip code. And it also tells you the price before you head out the door. I didn't really trust those prices, so I called a lot of these gas stations. They couldn't confirm the prices over the phone, as part of company policy. But they can tell you the wait time. In some cases, it was an hour and a half. They can also tell you the grade they're out of, in some cases premium, in some cases regular, and diesel. So it's good, so you don't have to waste more of your time when you head out.

The official I spoke with said, think of what happens when Southerners hear about a snowstorm. They run out to the market, they get a ton of milk, they get a ton of bread, and then the shelves are bare. Fred, there's no shortage of that bread, milk, or in this case, gasoline. They can meet regular demand but just not that crazy excessive demand.

This guy says, chill out. I think that's a good lesson for all of us, Fred.

WHITFIELD: I think you were pretty chill by making the phone call and saying, you know what? I don't trust the prices that I'm seeing here, give me the real deal.

LAPIN: Yes, the real deal is this. If everybody goes out in a mass exodus, obviously there's going to be no gasoline. If you don't need gas, you should probably stay at home and enjoy the weekend.

WHITFIELD: Have you filled up the tank of your vehicle?

LAPIN: I haven't. You know we were getting calls in that this was happening in Atlanta as well. And they said, again, look at this pipeline. This is the Colonial Pipeline right here. This is the main one that services Atlanta. And everything is fine right here. Everything is fine. So when these rumors go out, people freak out. And really, Fred, the bottom line is that they shouldn't. There's nothing to freak out over. So when you see these Internet rumors, you've got to check them out, and we did.

WHITFIELD: Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. I think everybody's got to know that by now, right?

LAPIN: I hope so.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nicole. Thanks so much for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.

LAPIN: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Don Lemon is coming up next with more in the NEWSROOM.